CORTLAND, N.Y. –
Ryan Schmadel (Oriskany) scored a career-high 26 points to lead five Cortland double-figure scorers as the Red Dragons posted an 88-77 home men's basketball victory over Plattsburgh to clinch a SUNYAC playoff berth.
Cortland is 15-7 overall and 9-6 in the SUNYAC with three league games remaining. The Red Dragons are in fifth place in the conference and moved to within a game of fourth-place Oswego (10-5). Plattsburgh fell to 8-15 overall and 5-11 in the SUNYAC, a game behind sixth-place Geneseo (6-10). The top six teams qualify for the SUNYAC playoffs, with the third-place and fourth-place teams hosting first-round games Feb. 25.
Schmadel made 10-of-16 shots, including 6-of-11 3-pointers, and added five rebounds.
Austin Grunder (Trumansburg/Charles O. Dickerson) finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds for his 20th double-double of the year. He made 3-of-4 attempts from the arc.
Eric Edwards (Binghamton) recorded 15 points and seven rebounds,
Brendan Fitzpatrick (Plainview/Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK) posted 15 points, five rebounds and four assists, and
Jake DiSanto (Victor) scored 11 points and tied his career high with four assists.
Travis Cox scored 18 of his team-high 22 points in the second half for the Cardinals. He also grabbed five rebounds and handed out four assists. Nick DeAngelis amassed 18 points and team highs of seven rebounds and six assists, and Matt Bernhard went 6-for-9 from the floor (4-of-6 from 3-point range) in a 17-point effort.
Cortland finished the game 15-of-33 (46 percent) from 3-point range and 19-of-23 (83 percent) from the foul line. Plattsburgh was 38 percent from the arc (11-of-29) and 57 percent from foul line (4-of-7). Both teams finished at 46 percent shooting overall from the floor.
The teams were close the entire first half, with the largest margin an early 9-2 Cortland lead. Bernhard's layup with 10 seconds remaining gave Plattsburgh a 37-35 halftime advantage, and the Cardinals held their largest lead at 43-38 on Bernhard's layup with 17:03 remaining in the game.
Trailing 46-43 with 15:12 left, Cortland scored 13 straight points over two and a half minutes to go up 56-46. Schmadel made two treys, DiSanto hit one three and Edwards had two layups during that run. Cortland led by 13 points three times in the next three minutes, the last at 67-54 on Schmadel's layup with 8:01 left.
Plattsburgh responded with a 13-2 run to close within 69-67 with 4:59 remaining. That streak was highlighted by seven points from Bernhard, including a four-point play, and six by Cox. Cortland, however, answered with a 10-0 run over the next two and a half minutes, starting with baskets from Edwards and
Ben Walters (Lockport/Starpoint) and capped by two Fitzpatrick free throws with 2:26 left. Cox made a 3-pointer at the 2:10 mark, but Schmadel extended the lead back to 12 with his final 3-pointer of the afternoon and the Red Dragons never looked back.
